S1 - Ep 439 - Pretoriuskop Rest Camp!

During our visit to Pretoriuskop Rest Camp in Kruger National Park, we experienced a rainy day as we headed to the camp. Despite the weather, we encountered some fascinating wildlife, catching a glimpse of a leopard in a tree. Unfortunately, upon arrival, the camp was experiencing an interruption in the electricity supply, a problem which apparently been ongoing for a day or two. This prompted us to embark on another game drive. Our additional exploration led us to a magnificent elephant with the most impressive tusks of our trip. Returning to camp, we enjoyed supper and the next morning, amidst continued rainfall, we observed the diligent efforts to restore the bungalows, appreciating the commitment to maintaining the quality of the accommodations in the camp. #DustBugs #adventuretravel #southafrica #southafricavlog #travelongravel #krugernationalpark #pretoriuskop
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[@rakgumamalatji7462]

thanks a lot for the shoutout the wonerful phalaborwa gentlemen you met was myself, and my 3 friends. Trevor, Tshidiso and Temosho.

[@DustBugsTravel]

It was such fun meeting you guys! Exchanging sightings and boiling potatoes in our kettle. 🤣 Please give our best to the other three and thanks for watching our video, we appreciate it! 🚙😁

[@charlietreston4035]

Hi guys this video was so emotive for me as 50years ago I stayed in Pretorius kop in one of the single hut by the fence jock of the bushveld had me in tears my mums favourite book. I noticed most of the huts had crittel windows an apsolute treat for me and my wife going to send this to my sister daughter and friends to show them where the old boy staid cannot thank you enough for taking me on a journey to my past thanks for taking me along cheerio till the next one

[@sahmed2693]

I guess through your videos that South Africa is most beautiful country on earth.

[@kensue7821]

Transport dam is famous for "The battle of Kruger" (over a million views) The battle between a pack of lions, a herd of Buffalo and a Crocodile.

[@sallygemmell7562]

I am so enjoying your Kruger trip. Thank you. I too stayed at Pretoriuskop when I was very young and I think we may have been in a Rondavel. We had a trailer with our “supplies” still in them and we heard this huge commotion as we were waking up. The baboons had come over the fence, torn open the toilet paper and decorated everything in site, bitten eggs and threw them aside and just made a huge mess for us to clean up afterwards. This was obviously before electric fencing had been installed. We were also based right on the fence. Thank you for sharing. I am really enjoying your wonderful trip.

[@VerticalHorizonSA]

Hi Guys! Greetings from a fellow adventurer. I'm truly enthusiastic about exploring South Africa, and your perspectives have proven to be incredibly helpful. I've been avidly tracking your journeys for a while now, and your videos are not only informative but also provide a fresh perspective. Please continue sharing your adventures!

[@Laps9]

Hi guys, bring back memories, Thanks for the journey, Geniet dit altyd. A year ago we went to Pretoruiskop with our youngest daughter and grandson, they stayed in the same hut (57) and had great memories. Thanks again.

[@terrimeyer3815]

I loved that...armchair tours...❤that's me too. I am really hoping now for the two missing on your list. Rhino and cheeta and a sable wont hurt either. Safe travels in the rain. 😍😘😍 loving it all

[@emileheusd2958]

I live in Canada almost 22 years. Toured around the USA and Canada National Parks The Kruger National Park which I visited often during my life as a South African is a special experience not comparable to any North American Parks. Thank you for Dust bug crew to remind me that I left something very special when I left SA

[@brianblyth9790]

Another great episode. Well done. Curtis when you were at Transport Dam you mentioned that you remember something happened at Transport Dam but you couldn’t remember. This might jog your memory, a number of years ago there were a number of cars and a Game Viewing vehicle with overseas tourists watching the wild life when a large herd of Buffalo were on the move towards a pride of young Lions. When the Buffalo were close to the Lions they turned away and ran when the Lions charged. They caught a calf and all landed up in the water where a crocodile tried to take the calf away from the Lions. The whole herd of Buffalo then rescued the calf. Do a search on Battle at Kruger and watch the video, all of which was captured by one of the tourists.

[@revinot]

I love the KNP when you are there it feels like time stands still and you are in anchient times

[@monicaalberts8130]

I love Prkop!! Been going there since 1947!! But I visit all the other camps as well. Live in George now...far away..but thanks ❣

[@1812nico]

Hi you two! Great trip in the rain! At least we were back on wet gravel roads with big rock hills! I will remember this visit for the huge elephants, they are just fascinating. Thank you for all your effort to bring the jewels of our country into our homes. I am ready for the next outing! Keep safe!

[@dirkhuman4087]

The raptor on the side of the road on your way back from Numbi gate was a Common Buzzard and not Lesser Spotted Eagle. Great episode, thank you. The day visitor's area is not manned by staff and you can dial a number to get a gas skottel delivered from camp. Best is to take your own and enjoy a very nice quiet picnic by yourself. A great spot it is. Often elephants come close to visit. We were last there in Sept 2023 and had a great brêkkie. Keep in mind this area has the highest rainfall in the whole park. So if you cut the grass today, it will be long again in 2 weeks' time.

[@flodillon991]

Very nice video l enjoyed it a lot. The warthog's little ones antics were very cute. That giraffe looked so majestic. ❤

[@mariusroos]

Very nice trip. As all the others the entire Kruger is absolutely stunning. Thank you so much for your efforts and time to bring this to us. I will joun the next one

[@laliedutoit]

Thank you for this trip with you again. It is lovely scenery and entertainment. 🍷🙏

[@stefanopaione3502]

🤗🤗🤗👍🌈

[@frederikbrits9559]

Pretoriuskop was named after Willem Pretorius, originaly from Ohrighstad. He joined up with Albasini and Karel Trichardt in July 1848 on route to Delagoa Bay. He fell sick and died where the camp is situated today

[@frederikbrits9559]

Simple salution for Pretoriuskop, made the camp half-price for locals and closes Numbi Gate

[@mrstukutela5126]

Absolutely entertaining as usual. I am thoroughly enjoying my armchair tours. I really should get to the KNP before I get too much older.

[@dawnf6617]

Lekker video. The first time I stayed at Pretoriuskop was in 1985. My primary school organised a week long trip to the KNP. The rondawels were painted white back then.

[@josephvantonder437]

Thanks a lot for your videos. We enjoy every moment of it.

[@sadzasnake1755]

You are 100% correct Curtis. Barbel do burry themselves in mud and then stay there till the rains come again. They are not a lung fish, however they have unique gills snd are able to breathe air as well. During the rains a barbel has the ability to move on land as well taking them from one water body to another.

[@thewanderer58]

As always, you have not disappointed. Thank you again for an informative and visually awesome posting ☺. Pretoriuskop Rest Camp instills a feeling of deja vu for me as it was the first camp I stayed at during my first visit ever to the KNP at the age of ten in 1968 (just blown my age 🤭). Yes, it has changed over the years, but it has always retained it's old rustic character and ambience I believe. I love the old "lady" 🤗. I look forward to your next posting. Travel safe and enjoy every moment ..... 😏

[@malindawalk9418]

We have never been on such along holiday 😂 enjoying every minute. What we would like is for Sonja to give us some advise about the bookings and how she did the bookings.

[@DustBugsTravel]

This was the first time that Sonia did an online booking with SANParks and she battled at first. She played around on sanparks.org for a good few hours until she got it figured out. You might just have to do the same. 😁

[@malindawalk9418]

@@DustBugsTravel thanks Curtis

[@blairgowrieforestrailwayan2786]

I have seen following your trek through Kruger National Park. As you have been traveling, I have been following your trip in my Kruger Park Map & Guid. I love Pretorius Kop. I was trying to find the frog at 13:55 in my guide, but I can not find it. How ever I am privileged to have a few of those frogs in my garden. I'm told they are the Common River Frog. They ha e a very lovely soft crock and chirping sound. When I visited Kruger in 2022 tourists were robed and some one was killed with in a day or two of me passing through Numbi Gate the road to get there from White river is not a pleasant nor pritty road, I would rather over take the continuous stream of Trucks.

[@frederikbrits9559]

Napi Rotse/Boulders/Joe Ludorf Memorial....next to it is also the Wolhuter Windmill. Erected by him shortly after the Boer War by himself, he was also the 2IC OF Stevenson-Hamilton.

[@francoispieterse7371]

Just recently a family had problems as they travelled on the Numbi road on their way home. So definitely a no go road.

[@dracy7024]

Recipe asb for the garlic potatoes. The Dustbug style.

[@DustBugsTravel]

I'll give it my best shot as relayed by Sonia, who got the recipe handed down from her mom. ❤️ 1. Boil potatoes, preferably in a pot, but another vessel like a kettle will do just fine. 2. Crush them with a fork, as coarse or as fine as you prefer. 3. Here comes the difficult part because Sonia has no measurements and just mixes the following ingredients in an empty plastic bottle until I say it tastes just right. I have always been the official taster. 😁 She actually first soaks a lot of crushed garlic in just enough water to cover it, for about 15 minutes or so. Then she adds brown vinegar, oil of your preference, salt and freshly-ground black and then I shake, shake, shake. Pour over the potatoes (hot, warm or cold) and mix it through thoroughly. Best potatoes I've ever had. I hope you enjoy. 😁🥔

[@brandonterblanche333]

The freestanding tents belong to a private tour company whom host international visitors

[@sicko_the_ew]

I think those day visitor areas have suffered from Kruger losing novelty value. For a while on any weekend the Park was full of day visitors, there for a party (with loud music to go with that, and probably quite a lot of refreshments.) The camps got a bit hectic, and staff probably ended up spending too much of their time sorting out human conflicts of one kind or another (Sodwana Bay throughout the holiday season has the "long term visitor version" of the problem - drunk people playing four-by-four on the turtle nests while their kids sit on the bumpers waiting to fall off under the wheels, and so on). The day visitor sites made for a nice compromise, but you'll probably find they still cracked down on problematic things like booze and the loud music that goes with it so often. In turn, that probably made the Park too "boring" for a lot of day visitor site partygoers. (And for some it might have even been so that the opportunities for conflict were the very thing that made the long trip worthwhile, so just getting given a more party-friendly place to let down hair in the Park would've spoiled things for anyone with that mindset.) So now they've gone quiet. (Even that Skukuza one you showed in the previous video used to be full up on weekends. Quite pleasant to me, actually, when the music was more moderate, and most of the noise was just happy kids screaming the sounds kids the world over scream when going wild at a swimming pool.) At Skukuza you'd often find upwards of ten taxis parked off there, while their passengers enjoyed the nice facilities in a way too noisy for a rest camp, but otherwise in just a happy, hypersociable kind of way.

[@charmainventer4427]

The last time we visited Pretoriuskop (2018), we were really disappointed, it changed so much, and it felt neglected and much different from our previous visit. Ok, there was about a 30-year gap...

[@berrynel8764]

Have you got 2 cars? sometimes it's white, and sometimes blue.

[@DustBugsTravel]

And sometimes red and sometimes silver. 🚙😁 We rent a vehicle for every trip, so it depends on the colour the rental company gives us at any particular time. You'll see a variety of colours in our 400+ videos. The one we used for our enitre Kruger trip was silver.

[@eksteinmalan3517]

Pretoriuskop is unfortunately my least favourite of all the camps. Lovely area, but very little game amd difficulty spotting with the thick bush. The camps always has issues with power supply and the restaurant is a Wimpy. Very sad to see the day visitors site being neglected. It's also extremely busy with staff vehicles pushing through Numbi gate. Wish they'd up the restaurant & Picnic spot atleast. Do I dislike it? No, but on every aspect the other 4 camps in the south offers something better.

[@DustBugsTravel]

I hear you. Pretoriuskop in general appears neglected, which was sad to see. 😢 We had some good times there in the past. We don't visit Kruger for the sightings only, so the fact that game is sparse in the area, doesn't bother us too much. We happen to enjoy Wimpy food, so it was quite cool to see one in the Park! 😁🥪

[@eksteinmalan3517]

@@DustBugsTravel Glad you guys enjoyed it. We've been following you guys this December. Lovely content.